Trying to Fly
by kiari-namiro
Summary: Shiori has a pretty normal life as a highschool student. She has friends, an overprotective older brother, and a part-time job. Two jobs actually. And one of them she has to keep a secret, even to her friends and family. But strange things started happening when strange alien life forms suddenly show up.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Macross Frontier, its plot, its characters, etc. I only own my OC.**

* * *

Chapter 1

Everyone living in Island-1 was excited for Sheryl Nome's live concert. Almost all of stunt flyers hired for the concert were going over their formation on the top of the Mihoshi Academy school building. One of the two stunt flyers who weren't going over the formation was a boy looking at a visual of the formation on his laptop.

"From a triple loop to a sudden turn and ascension, it's looking good."

"That sucks." The stunt flyer with the laptop and one of the practicing stunt flyers turned their attention at the other non-busy flyer was bored and just folded his paper plane. "I could do five."

"We're just doing a show at a concert. The risk is too high." The bored flyer didn't say anything as he made sure his plane was perfect. "But I see that you're confident as always, Alto-hime."

"What did you call me?!"

"Ha ha. You're so cute when you're angry."

"What did you say?!"

"Are they at it again?" The stunt flyer with the laptop looked up to see a young girl with brown shoulder-length hair walk up to him. "They're always like this. But it's kind of amusing to watch them fight."

The girl was wearing the school uniform for the female students of Mihoshi Academy. She sat down next to the boy as she watched the two boys fight with amusement in her pink eyes.

"I guess watching Michel-senpai and Alto-senpai fight is kinda amusing. What are you doing here, Shiori-san?"

"I wanted to see you how you guys were doing." Shiori got bored watching Alto and Michel fight and decided to see what the boy was working on his laptop. "What are you working on, Luca?"

"This is a visual of the formation we'll be doing at the concert. I'm kind of worried about how it will turn out at the concert."

"Well I'm sure that it will go great." Shiori took out her plush phone (A/N: it's like Ranka's but blue) to read the text message she just received. "I have to go to work now. I'll see you at the concert."

* * *

"I hope I don't get caught by the boss." Shiori snuck out of the changing room while wearing her waitress uniform. "I can't believe how late I am for work."

"Shiori-chan, did you just show up for work?" Shiori turned around to a purple-haired waitress with glasses. "You better start working before you get caught."

"I guess I should. Are you going to Sheryl's concert, Nana-san?"

"Sorry. I wasn't able to get a ticket."

"I see. That's too bad."

"But at least you're not going alone. Ranka-san was able to get one."

"Honto ni? Ranka-chan wa doko? I want to tell her that I also got a ticket to see Sheryl." Shiori looked around until she saw a green-haired waitress waiting in front of the kitchen counter for her order. "Ranka-chan, guess what." Ranka turned around when Shiori walked up to her. "I got a ticket to see Sheryl!"

"Honto ni?! Watashi wa tottemo ureshii yo!" Ranka suddenly hugged Shiori, almost causing her to fall back. "Now I won't be going to the concert by myself tomorrow!"

"Omaetachi!" Ranka and Shiori were almost startled when the chef suddenly held out a dish in front of them. "Do I have to keep reminding you about not letting my special pork dish get cold again?!"

"Gomennasai." Shiori grabbed the dish before Ranka could lift her hand to grab it. "I'll take over from here. You go ahead and take a break, Ranka-chan."

"Arigato, Shiori-chan."

* * *

"I wonder what's taking Ranka-chan so long." Shiori checked the time on her plush phone before looking around for Ranka. "She's not even answering her phone. I hope she didn't get lost somewhere."

Shiori was wearing a white headband, a pink tank top, a white sailor skirt, and brown calf-length boots. She walked around the area in front of the concert and tried to look for her through the large crowd. Unfortunately, she was too short to see above the crowd of people in front of her.

"I can't see above these people. I have to find another way to get a higher view." Shiori looked around until she noticed a tree nearby. "Maybe I can get a better view from there."

It took a while for Shiori to push her way through the crowd before she reached the tree. She stepped onto the bench next to the tree and jumped to grab one of the tree's branches before pulling herself up. Once she was on the branch, she sat down on it and tried to find Ranka in the crowd.

"Nani wo suru, Shiori-chan?" Shiori looked down to see Michel, who was already suited up for the concert, looking up at her. "You shouldn't be climbing trees if you're going to end up being stuck again."

"I am not stuck."

"Really? Then why aren't you getting down?" Shiori gave Michel and upset pout before looking away from him. "You're always acting childish." Shiori looked down at Michel to see that he was holding out his arms in front of him. "Just jump so I can catch you."

Shiori carefully tried to stand but failed when she slipped and fell off the branch and landed in Michel's arms. Michel looked down at her with a smirk on his face before placing Shiori on her feet so she could fix her skirt.

"So what were you doing up in that tree?"

"I was trying to look for Ranka-chan, but I can't find her anywhere."

"Ranka-chan is probably inside or in front of the entrance since the concert's about to start. I'll go take you there."

"But shouldn't you be waiting with the other stunt flyers?"

"I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to escort a little girl into the concert."

"I'm not that short! I'm almost as tall as Luca!"

Michel smiled at Shiori before they started heading to the main entrance of the concert hall where they found Ranka trying to look for Shiori. Once the two girls went into the concert hall together, Michel left to meet up with the other stunt flyers.

* * *

"Everyone, thank you for coming to watch Sheryl Nome live performance!" The crowd cheered even louder as they wait for Sheryl to appear. "Here she is! The 'Galactic Fairy' herself, Sheryl Nome!"

The spotlight suddenly turned off, and the inside of the whole auditorium was suddenly pitch black. Shiori and Ranka were standing somewhere in the middle of the crowd as their excitement started to rise with the tension in the building.

"Watashi no uta kike!"

The lights were suddenly turned on as the music started to play, signaling the stunt flyers to launch. Like everyone else in the audience, Shiori and Ranka watched the stunt flyers in awe before listening to Sheryl sing one of her songs. During the middle of the song, Alto lost control of his wings and started flying towards Sheryl from behind. Sheryl fell off the platform as Alto flew down to and caught her before she reached the ground. By Sheryl's orders, Alto started to fly around the inside of the auditorium with the other stunt flyers following him. Shiori released the breath she was holding when the concert continued to go on smoothly.

"Baka. Always causing some trouble." Shiori continued to listen to Sheryl sing while the stunt flyers flew above the audience with small camera's in their helmets. "But I can't blame him for trying to have fun."

The concert continued until it was stopped when the lights in the auditorium were turned on. A woman walked onto the stage and escorted Sheryl off the stage, disappointing majority of the audience. Shiori look up to see Michel talking on his cell phone.

"Roger. We'll return immediately." Michel hung up his phone to end the call before looking down at Shiori, who was looking up at him. "Let's go, Luca."

"Hey!" Michel and Luca got off the bridge and fly out of the concert hall. "Michel! Luca!" Alto looked down at Shiori but saw that she had left somewhere. "Shiori?"

Alto flew off the bridge and out of the auditorium through the back door. He flew up onto the roof of the concert hall and was shocked by the sight of parts of the shield fall onto the city. He noticed Sheryl being escorted into a black car by guards as he flew down and skated towards her but were stopped by a couple of armed guards.

"Hey! What is this?" The woman who had escorted Sheryl was about to go into the car but stopped when Alto told her to wait. "There are still people inside! Are you going to run away by yourselves?!"

"This is a job for professionals." Sheryl was sitting in the car with an expression as though she had no care of what was happening. "Get back, amateur."

"What? They're all here to see you. Are you going to run away all by yourself?!" Hearing no response, Alto shoved the guards away from him. "And you call yourself a professional?"

Alto was flying off towards the shield until he noticed a huge, red, bug-like alien weapon walking across the city. Military tanks tried shooting at it but didn't even make it flinch. The alien weapon noticed Alto and started shooting at him until it hit one of his wings. Alto was losing control as he started flying towards the ground and was able to safely land unharmed. He looked up as a VF-25 flying towards the alien weapon.

"Get out of the way, kid! You're getting in the way of my job!" The pilot was caught by surprise when the alien weapon grabbed the arms of his fighter to keep him from escaping. "Damn it! I won't let you walk all over us!"

"Lieutenant Gillian!"

Alto looked and was surprised to see Shiori standing nearby with a shocked look on her face. The alien weapon turned its attention to Shiori, giving Gillian the chance to eject out of his fighter. He flew down to stand near the alien weapon and started shooting it with his machine gun.

Look out!" The alien weapon suddenly grabbed Gillian and started to tighten its grasp around his body. "Lieutenant Gillian!" Shiori noticed Gillian's gun on the ground as she started running towards it. "Let him go!" She picked up the gun and started shooting at the alien weapon, but it wouldn't stop crush Gillian to death. "Yamete!"

Shiori watched in fear as she watched Gillian be completely crushed with his blood falling onto the ground. She fell dropped the machine gun as she fell down onto her knees with tears in her eyes. She was snapped out of her shock when she heard a familiar cry nearby as she looked and was surprised to see Ranka sitting on the ground in fear.

"Ranka-chan!" Shiori looked at the alien weapon and saw that it was walking towards Ranka. "Oh no you don't!" She quickly ran over to Ranka and tried to convince her to get up and run, but Ranka was too scared to move. "Ranka-chan, you have to get out of here!"

Shiori looked up at the alien weapon saw that it was being shot at by the VF-25. She looked at the said fighter and was surprised to see Alto piloting it.

'Baka! He's going to get himself killed!'


	2. Chapter 2

**TRYING TO FLY**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Macross Frontier, its plot, its characters, its songs, etc. I only own my OC.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Alto started shooting at the alien weapon, which wasn't even making any effect on the alien, until he was out of ammo. Shiori watched in fear as the alien weapon started approaching the unarmed VF-25 with Alto still in it. Just when the alien was about to strike the VF-25, another Valkyrie held back the alien weapon and forced it back. The pilot of the Valkyrie connected to the communications link of the VF-25 to talk to Alto.

"Hey amateur, give me the story later. Right now, take that girl and get away!"

"A-All right!" Alto carefully moved the arm of the VF-25 so that its hand was behind Ranka and Shiori. "Grab on! Hurry!" Alto carefully tried to close the hand around both girls, but Shiori moved out of the way before the hand completely and gently held Ranka. "What are you doing?! I have to get you away from here too!"

"Forgot about me! Get Ranka-chan out of here! I'll be fine!"

"Demo—"

"Like I said, I'll be fine. I called for some help." Shiori looked to see a black VF-28 (A/N: Imagine the VF-27 but black and a size smaller) land nearby. "About time."

Seeing that Shiori wasn't going to listen to him, Alto drove the VF-25 away from the battle until an alien weapon with a long tail appeared before him. He drove towards another direction to get away from the second alien weapon.

"There's more than one!"

The VF-28 lowered itself and opened its top window (A/N: I'm not sure what the names are for each part of a jet, but I'm referring to the where the pilots get into the jet) to reveal that there was no pilot. Shiori closed the top window of her VF-28 and transformed her fighter into its GERWALK form before going after the alien weapon chasing the VF-25. She started shooting at it with her machine guns, which made it hard without accidentally shooting at the VF-25. It wasn't long before two more of the second-type alien weapons appeared and started going after the VF-25. Shiori concentrated on steadying her aim until she had it at one of the alien weapons and shot them with her beam gun, destroying it before it could reach the VF-25.

"What are you doing? You're not yet ready for this."

"I know what I'm doing. And thanks for not telling me about this!" Shiori flew off the ground and landed on top of one of the buildings and tried to shoot at the remaining second-type alien but missed. "I missed!"

The VF-25 was heading down towards the city just as the remaining second-type alien flew up towards it while charging its lasers. Before it had a chance to shoot, the alien weapon was destroyed by a rifle beam. Shiori looked down to see a VF-25G nearby with its sniper rifle aimed towards where the alien weapon was destroyed.

"Learn to finish the job next time, buddy." Michel watched the VF-25 fly off towards somewhere before connecting to the communications link of the VF-28. "Dai jyo bu ka, Shiori-chan?"

"Dai jyo bu. You worry about me too much, Michel-kun." Shiori looked to see the VF-25 landing somewhere on the outskirts of the city. "I want to see if they're both okay."

"I want to also, but you know that we can't. No one else must know of our work in the SMS. Let's go. Our work here is done."

"Hai." Shiori transformed her fighter into its fighter mode before she started to feel light-headed. "Michel-kun, I don't think I can make it back to base."

"I thought you said that you're fine, Shiori-chan. Shiori-chan?" Not hearing a reply from Shiori, Michel opened a video link to the VF-28 and was shocked to see Shiori unconscious. "Shiori!" He piloted his VF-25G over to the VF-28 and carried it to SMS base. 'Hang in there, Shiori.'

* * *

"Why isn't she picking up?" Alto has been trying to call Shiori's phone but kept getting voicemail. "She said that she was going to be okay, but I have to make sure." Alto gave up trying to call as he fell back onto his bed to try to relax after what just happened. "I don't think I can ever forget anything that happened today."

* * *

Shiori opened her eyes and found herself lying in a bed. She sat and noticed her phone on the night stand. She picked up her phone and saw that she had 10 missed calls from Alto. She turned off her phone and placed it on top of the night stand. She noticed some folded clothes near the foot of the bed as she crawled over to it and saw that it had a pink tank top, a pair of gray shorts, and white socks. She quickly changed into the clothes before sitting against the headboard when she heard someone knocking on the door.

"Come in." Michel opened the door and walked into the room before sitting on the bed. "What happened, Michel-kun? How did I end up at your house?"

"You passed out before we could reach the base. I brought your fighter back to the base before rushing you here. You weren't supposed to pilot the VF-28 without taking your pills. You're lucky I had a container for emergencies." Michel sat down on the bed when he saw the depressed look on Shiori's face. "Doshita no, Shiori-chan?" Shiori didn't say anything as she looked down at her lap.

"It's about Gillian-san's death, isn't it?"

"I tried to save him, but I couldn't. It's my fault that he died."

"It's not your fault. Gillian-san fought bravely to the end. He did it to save the people he cared about." Shiori suddenly hugged Michel with her hands clenching the back of his shirt as he wrapped his arms around her in comfort hug. "It's okay to cry. You don't need to hold back." Shiori let her tears flow down her cheeks as she cried onto Michel's chest. 'I'm sorry that you had to see someone die Shiori, especially since this was your first time witnessing it.'

* * *

"Are you sure that you're okay, Shiori-chan?"

Shiori and Michel walked through the school gates and towards the building which made the other students stare and whisper about them. They just ignored the stares and whispers as they walked into the school building and down some halls.

"Even after what I witnessed yesterday, I can't just stop continuing to live my life. He risked his life so that everyone else can continue to live their usual lives."

"Just wanted to make sure that you're okay." Michel and Shiori stopped in front of a classroom where there were some second-years chatting before class starts. "Do you want me to pick you up here after class? Or will you be alright by yourself and not get lost?"

"You're treating me like a kid again, Michel-kun. Why is it always me and Luca that everyone else picks on?"

"I don't know about everyone else, but that upset pout you make is cute and amuses me."

Shiori gave Michel a cute smile before walking into her classroom. Michel started heading to his class until he saw Alto being escorted out of the building by a uniformed woman and a couple of armed guards. He checked to see if Shiori noticed as well and was relieved that she was too busy talking to her friends to notice. He looked to see Alto, the woman, and the guards leave the building and couldn't help but wonder.

'What's going on? What do they want with Alto?'

* * *

"Come on, Shiori. Tell us what's going on between you and Michel-kun." Shiori was putting her books in her bag when two of her classmates kept asking her about her and Michel. "We saw you with him this morning and we can't help but wonder whether or not you two are dating."

"Michel-kun and I are just friends. We're not dating."

"Oh really? Then how come he's waiting for you outside of the classroom."

"What are you talking about?" Shiori walked out of the classroom and was surprised to see Michel leaning against the wall across from the door. "Michel-kun?"

"Even though you told me not to come and wait for you, I couldn't help but make sure that you wouldn't end up getting lost." Shiori didn't argue as she and Michel walked out of the school building and waited a few blocks before talking. "Did you tell your boss that you won't be going to work today?"

"Yes. I had to make up an excuse since I'm not allowed to tell him the real reason why I'm skipping work today."

"I still don't get why you're working when you don't need to. It's because of your waitressing job that you're starting to fall behind in some of your classes. Why don't you just quit?"

"Because I promised Ranka-chan that I would help her at the restaurant since Nana-san is sometimes late for work." Shiori and Michel arrived at the SMS building as they went inside and took an elevator that led to the SMS hanger where all of variable fighters were kept for storage and repairs. "It looks like not everyone is here yet. I'll just go ahead and do some training for a while. Can you set up the training simulator while I suit up?"

"I might as well train also. I'll meet you at the training simulator. I'll get Luca to train with us too."

"Okay. I'll meet you guys at the training cockpit (A/N: It's the one that Alto 'died' 25 times)."

Shiori turned and ran off into the female staffs' locker room so she can change into her pilot suit. Her suit was like the other pilots but the collar and the emblem on the shoulder pads are black with white (A/N: If you don't get it, then let try using an example. On Alto's suit it's red with black, but Shiori's is black with white. Get it, got it, good). She put her school uniform and the rest of her stuff in her locker before grabbing the small rectangular case on the shelf. She opened the case to reveal an organized dozen of pills before taking one in her mouth. She placed the case back on the shelf before closing her locker and walking out of the locker room.

* * *

**(A/N: This is during the time Shiori was in the locker room)**

After changing into his pilot suit, Michel went to look for Luca until he found the said boy standing next to one of the Valkyries while looking at his laptop. Michel walked over to Luca and look down at his laptop to see that he was working on some program for his RVF-25. Luca didn't notice Michel so he was caught by surprise when he saw Michel's reflection on the monitor of his laptop.

"You sure are focused on perfecting that system, huh? Shiori-chan wants to train for a bit and went to change into her pilot suit. She should be waiting for me at the training simulator right now. You want to join us?"

"Hai. But are you sure that Shiori-san is feeling okay? I didn't expect to see her at school after witnessing Gillian-san's death. It's the first time she's ever witnessed someone's death. I know I wouldn't be the same after seeing someone die like that."

"Shiori-chan is always like that. Even when she's feeling hurt or upset, she still tries to hide it with that childish look she always has." Michel noticed that everyone was gathering in front of the VF-25 that used to be piloted by Gillian-san. "What's going on?"

"Let's ask." Luca and Michel followed one of the female pilots as she walked over to the gathering group. "Kanaria-san, what's this fuss about?"

"Ozma brought him." Michel looked and was surprised to see one of the last people he expected to see there. "The witness to Gullian's death."

"Wha—Alto?!"

"Eh?!" Luca looked and was also surprised. "A-Alto-sempai?!"

"Michel? Luca?" Alto was also surprised but became more surprised when he noticed someone with brown walking towards the large group. 'Eh? Ano hito wa dare ka'

"I wonder what's taking Michel-kun so long." Shiori noticed the group of people standing around the VF-25. "I wonder why everyone's gathered here." Before she could ask Michel what was taking him so long, Shiori saw Alto and quickly hid behind Michel with a panicked look on her face. 'Why is him of all people here?! Oh yeah.' Shiori had a sorrowed look on her face as she tightened her grip on Michel's arm. 'He's the one who witnessed Gillian-san's death.'

Before Alto could demand for an explanation, the alarm sounded followed by system calling a Code Victor. Everyone started heading off to get into their positions except for Alto, Ozma, Michel, Luca, and Shiori. Alto watched in confusion as everyone ran off until he saw that Michel, Luca, and Ozma didn't run off like everyone else. He noticed the person hiding behind Michel as he walked over until he saw who the person was.

"Shiori?! You work for SMS?!"

"Skull Squadron, prepare for launch!"

"Yes sir!"

"Shiori!" Shiori gave Alto an apologetic look before climbing into her VF-28. 'So she's a pilot too. I'm not going to let her do this on her own.' Alto saw Ozma run by him until he told him to wait. "Put me in a Valkyrie! I'm not going to let Shiori go out there without me!"

"Why you little!" Ozma square punched Alto in the jaw and sent him to crash into the tool cart. "Don't spout off on the spur of the moment! Damn punk! Someone toss this guy out onto a safety zone."

"Squad Leader." Ozma looked up at Shiori who was about to board her VF-28 until she heard Ozma punch Alto. "Don't be so hard on him. He's just concerned for my safety." Shiori placed her helmet inside her VF-28 and closed the top window before jumping off. "I'll escort him out. He and I need to talk, anyway."

Ozma nodded his head before running off to his variable fighter. Alto didn't start following Shiori until she was walking ahead of him until they were outside the base as they rode the conveyer walkway (A/N: Not sure what it's called) the rest of the way. It was silent for a while since Shiori kept looking ahead while Alto looked towards the side with his hands in his pockets. Getting annoyed by the silence between them, Alto sighed before starting the conversation.

"Why didn't tell me you were working for SMS?"

"We're not allowed to tell anyone, not even our friends or family. Everyone sees SMS as a clean-up for the military when we're actually the ones who handle serious emergencies like last night. It is by the President's order that we had to keep it a secret."

'That explains why Michel and Luca suddenly left during the concert without telling me anything. And what Shiori meant when she was going to be okay after she told me to leave her behind and take Ranka to safety. Which reminds me.' Alto looked down at Shiori with a stern look on his face. "Shiori, where were you last night. I tried calling you to find out where you were but you didn't even answer your phone."

"I spent the night at Michel-kun's house."

"You what?!"

"It's not like we did anything! You and I know that Michel-kun would never do anything like that to me."

"How long have you been working as a pilot for SMS?"

"For a few months. It was kind of because of an accident when they recruited me."

"An accident?" Alto wondered for a bit until he heard someone singing from nearby. 'That voice. It can't be.'

"Huh?" Shiori was curious about what Alto was thinking until she also heard someone singing from nearby. "That voice. But why is she here?" When they reached the end of the conveyer walkway, Shiori walked over to Ranka with Alto walking behind her. "Ranka-chan, what are you doing here?" She then looked up at Sheryl who was standing at the top of a staircase. "I knew it. I recognize Sheryl-san's voice anywhere."

"The princess from yesterday." Ranka looked at Shiori and recognized the SMS pilot suit she was wearing. "No way. Shiori-chan you're a SMS pilot?! Why are you a pilot, Shiori-chan?! It's too dangerous! Onii-chan quit being a pilot because he promised to so I won't always have to worry about him getting hurt!"

'She doesn't know that Squad Leader Ozma is still piloting. He probably kept it a secret for Ranka-chan's sake.' Shiori felt bad as she looked at Ranka then back at Alto. "You should get out here. Take Ranka-chan and Sheryl-san with you. Have you forgotten that we're in a middle of a situation

"Chotto!" Shiori looked back at Sheryl who was looking towards Alto. "I'm not going anywhere until I get what belongs to me!"

"Nani?" Shiori looked at Sheryl then back at Alto. "You three have to leave immediately. I'm sorry but we're in a middle of an emergency." She started to head back towards the SMS base until she saw a large shadow appear over her. "Oh no!" She looked back and was shocked to see the red alien weapon from the day before. "Vajra!"


	3. Chapter 3

**TRYING TO FLY**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Macross Frontier, its characters, its plot, etc. I only own my OC.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Vajra!" Alto, Ranka, and Sheryl looked up before Ranka screamed in fear at the sight of a Vajra. "But why here?" Shiori was brought back to reality when she saw the VF-25S knock the Vajra away from the dome. "Squad Leader!"

The VF-25S switched from its Fighter mode to its Battroid mode and started shooting at the Vajra. But the Vajra overcame the shots and attacked with its claw. Recovering from the attack, the VF-25S grabbed onto the Vajra to try to hold it still while Ozma requests for assistance. Unfortunately, no permission has been granted.

"Damn those worthless politicians! (A/N: no offense to politicians)"

"This is bad." Shiori saw the VF-25G and the RVF-25 fly in to assist. "Michel-kun! Luca!" While the VF-25S was still holding the Vajra the VF-25G used the opportunity to sniper shoot it in the head. "They did it. Nani?"

Shockingly, the Vajra was somehow still alive as it grabbed the VF-25S and threw it towards the side. Having no head made it hard to move around as it slammed against the dome, creating a large that was starting to grow wider into a hole.

"You've got to be kidding me." Shiori looked around and saw an emergency shelter as she ran over and tried to open the hatch. "Over here! Quickly!"

"Sheryl, this way!" Alto picked up Ranka and ran to the emergency shelter before stomping on the emergency button. "Go first, Shiori."

Shiori jumped into the shelter followed by Alto, Ranka, and Sheryl before the hatch automatically closed itself. Sheryl was on her knees while Alto sat down with Ranka tightly gripping his shirt. Shiori was sitting next to the ladder while resting her head on her knees.

"What on earth is going on?"

"How should I know?" Alto remembered how Michel saved him the first time then again just now. "To think I was saved by him again." He tried to stand up but something was holding him down as he looked down at Ranka. "Let go! Hey!"

"Hm?" Ranka lifted her head and realized that she was still gripping onto Alto's shirt. "G-Gomennasai." She tried to let go of Alto's shirt but was having a hard time letting go. "Doushite?"

"Will you cut that ou—"

Alto saw how scared Ranka looked and decided not to finish his sentence. Ranka was able to let go of Alto's shirt and had a smile on her face, even though she was still scared on the inside. Even though Alto didn't finish his sentence, Sheryl heard Alto and caught on to what he was about to say.

"Can't you say something like, 'I can easily protect a couple of scared girls!'"

"Shut up! I would if I could!" Out of anger Alto slammed his fist against the wall, startling Ranka. 'But, as I am now...'

"Let's get out of here. It seems it would be better for our sanity."

"No, we can't." Sheryl was about to stand up until she heard Alto speak. "This is an emergency evacuation shelter. It's not connected to the Dome."

"What?" Sheryl, Alto, and Ranka looked towards the other end of the shelter and saw no other out. "Wait. Does that mean we're trapped in here?!"

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Shiori." Shiori looked up to see everyone else looking at her. "What is going on? How did you become a SMS pilot?"

"Doushite?" Shiori looked at Ranka who had a scared look on her face. "Why would you want to work as a pilot? You'll get hurt."

"To be honest, I never thought of myself being a pilot. I don't even have the skills of a pilot, at first. The whole thing was actually one huge accident. It was one of those days Michel, Luca, and I were hanging out on the school roof."

_Flashback…_

"_Nani wo shimasu ka, Luca?" Shiori found Luca on the school roof working on his laptop and walked over to him. "You're always working on something on that laptop of yours. What are you working on, anyway?"_

"_You sure are nosy, Shiori-chan." Shiori look back over her shoulder and saw Michel walking over to her and Luca. "Haven't you heard the saying, 'curiosity killed the cat'?"_

"_Hai. But its nine lives brought it back." Michel laughed a bit before placing his hand on Shiori's head and messing it up a bit. "Yamete yo!" Shiori quickly moved away from Michel's hand and fixed her hair. "I hate it when you do that. It's annoying."_

"_You're making that little pout of yours, Shiori-chan."_

"_Am not!" Shiori turned around still pouting until she realized something and turned around again without her pout. "Michel-kun, can I use your phone? I forgot to charge my phone last night."_

"_Seriously?" Shiori nodded her head before holding out her hand. "Okay." Michel took out his phone and was about to give to Shiori but decided to hold it up above his head. "But first you need to try to take it from my hand."_

"_No fair!" Shiori started jumping as she tried to grab Michel's phone until she gave up. "Fine. I'll just borrow Luca's phone." Shiori hit Michel in the stomach, not fazing him at all, before walking over to Luca. "Luca, can I borrow your phone?"_

"_Hm?" Luca looked up from his laptop and at Shiori. "Sure. Here you go." Luca gave Shiori her phone as the said girl stuck her tongue out at Michel before dialing a number on Luca's phone. "How come you're always messing around with Shiori-san? Do you like her or something?"_

"_If I liked her like that then her brother will most likely beat me up, if he can. Shiori-chan is like a little sister." Michel and Luca looked towards Shiori who was too busy talking on the phone to hear them. "One who is fun to mess with." Michel's phone started to ring until he answered it. "Moshi moshi…Ima?...Wakarimashita." Michel hung up and grabbed his bag. "We have to go, now. Hurry!"_

"_H-Hai."_

_Luca closed his laptop and grabbed his stuff before running after Michel, not realizing that Shiori still had his phone. Shiori finished talking to the person through the phone as she turned around to see that she was alone on the roof._

"_Luca? Michel-kun?" Shiori saw the door to the door to the roof close and figured that her friends had just left. "Did Luca forget that I had his phone? Maybe I'll catch up to them if I try to catch up to them now."_

_Shiori grabbed her bag and started heading down the stairs and saw Michel and Luca leave school grounds. Curious as to what her friends were heading, she ran after them but to spy on them rather than return Luca's phone. She followed them to the SMS building and saw them take the elevator. Shiori waited for a while before taking the elevator and found herself in a hanger full of variable fighters. She looked at the variable fighters in awe and almost forgot the reason she was there until she heard someone heading towards her direction. Thinking quickly, Shiori climbed into one of the variable fighters and ducked to hide herself._

"_Do you think it was okay to leave Shiori-san on the roof without telling her?"_

"_I'm sure Shiori-chan won't mind. It's not like we can tell her about this."_

'_Luca! Michel-kun!' Shiori was about to get up and call out to her friends but was stopped when the top hatch (A/N: Guessing on what it's called) closed by itself. "Nani? There's someone in here! Hey!"_

"_I guess you're right. We should start getting ready. Let's hope this test drive will go well." Luca heard some banging noise and looked at the VF-28. "Looks like Manny-san is ready. We should get ready too."_

"_Michel-kun! Luca! It's me!" Shiori was banging on the hanger of the VF-28 until she felt the said variable fighter moving. "What's going on?" She sat down in the pilot's seat and buckled up and put on the helmet that was left behind. "Better safe and sorry." She looked at the controls and tried to figure out how to work them. "One of these controls have to open the hatch. Maybe this one?" She was about to try one of the controls until she saw that she was the flight deck outside the Dome. "Ah! What am I doing outside the Dome?! Someone let me out of here!" Shiori slammed her fists on the controls and heard the sound of the engines. "Wait! I didn't mean to turn this thing on! Um…"_

_Shiori looked at the controls and grabbed the joysticks on the sides and pushed forward, not knowing that made the VF-28 fly forward and off the flight deck. The VF-28 was flying forward at highly fast speed and almost crashed into the VF-25G if it didn't move out of the way. Shiori quickly let go the joysticks to stop the VF-28 and held her hands against her chest. She hesitantly tried working the controls and was surprised when the VF-28 shifted into Battroid mode. She tried working the controls again and accidentally shot at the RVF-25 but fortunately missed._

"_What are you doing, Manny?" A video link connected from the VF-25S appeared next to Shiori, startling said girl. "It's hard to find someone to pilot the VF-28 and you're the closest candidate to piloting the VF-28. This is no time to fool around! Huh?" Ozma just received a video link from the Battle Frontier. "What?! Manny-san is still at the base?! Then who's piloting the VF-28?!" He then turned his attention back at Shiori. "Dare ka? Why are you piloting the VF-28?"_

"_I didn't mean to get in here! Can you help me get back? I don't know what to do!"_

"_Just calm down. We'll help you get back." Ozma turned his attention to the video link with the Battle Frontier. "We're heading back now." He then opened video links with the VF-25G and RVF-25. "Michel. Luca. We're postponing the test run. There's been a mix up." Suddenly a warning alert appeared before him pointing towards the right. "Something's heading this way! We need to get the VF-28 back to base!" Ozma flew the VF-25S in its Fighter mode to the VF-28. "The VF-28 needs to be in Fighter mode in order to bring it back a fast as possible. Luca will take you back to base."_

"_But I don't know how to do that."_

"_Then how did you shift it to Battroid mode?" Another video link appeared but with the RVF-25 with Luca on the screen. "What a minute? That's the uniform female students wear at Mihoshi Academy! It's not safe to be out her without the proper attire!"_

"_Luca? Is that you?"_

"_What the? Shiori-san?!_

"_Shiori-chan?!" Another video link appeared but this time with the VF-25G with Michel on the screen. "What are you doing here?!"_

"_Save explanations for later!" Everyone else turned their attention to Ozma. "Right now we need to get Shiori away from here. Luca, you escort her back to base. Michel and I will deal whatever threat is heading this way."_

"_Roger!"_

"_Shiori-san you need to shift the VF-28 to Fighter mode. Just use the same controls you used to shift it to Battroid mode."_

"_I don't know how. I was just messing with the controls."_

"_There should be a switch near the right joystick. I want you to flip it to the right." Shiori did that as the VF-28 shifted into Fighter mode. "Good. Now I want you to grab the joysticks and push forward. Just follow me, okay?"_

"_H-Hai." Shiori grabbed the joysticks and moved them forward to fly the VF-28 forward while following the RVF-25. "Am I doing it right?"_

"_You're doing fine, Shiori-san. Just follow me." A warning appeared in front him as Luca looked towards the side and saw a Vajra Drone flying towards them. "Shiori-san, we need to move! Hurry!"_

"_Huh?" Shiori looked and saw the Vajra Drone heading towards them, mostly her. "What is that thing?!" She quickly moved right to avoid getting hit, but ended up hitting another switch that made the cockpit look white and holographic. "What happened? It feels like I'm in some sort of virtual reality."_

"_Shiori-san, you activated the brain control system! You have to switch it off so I can get you out of here!"_

_Shiori saw the RVF-25 a few meters ahead of her and looked around for the switch for the brain control system so she can get to Luca. A warning sign appeared before here pointed towards the right as she looked and saw the Vajra Drone flying towards her. She hurriedly looked around for the switch until she saw the Vajra closing in and braced for impact. The VF-25S saw the Vajra Drone and was about to shoot until he saw the VF-28 fly out of the Vajra's path._

"_I'm scared. I don't want to be here." Shiori had her hands on her head as she opened her eyes and saw the Vajra Drone chasing her while shooting at her. 'I don't want to die. Just leave me alone.' The VF-28 stopped flying before shifting to GERWALK mode and turning around to face the Vajra Drone. "Go away!"_

"_Oh no you don't!" Ozma shifted the VF-25S into Battroid mode and was about to sniper shoot the Vajra until the VF-28 started shooting at the Vajra. "What the?"_

_Most of the shots were able to hit the Vajra Drone and destroyed it before it could reach the VF-28. The VF-28 stopped shooting and powered down as it drift in the middle of space. The VF-25G and RVF-25, both in Battroid modes, grabbed the wings of the VF-28 and carried it back to base._

* * *

"_She still hasn't woken up. Is Shiori-san going to be okay?"_

"_Shiori-chan will be okay. She's a strong kid."_

"_I…am not…a kid." Michel and Luca looked down at Shiori who was lying in a hospital bed as she started to wake up. "Where…Where am I?"_

"_You're in a hospital." Shiori slowly sat up, with the help of Michel, and looked towards the tan-skinned doctor with sort of voluminous hair. "Apparently using the brain control system of the VF-28 put too much strain on your brain. That much mental strain caused you to pass out. You were unconscious a few hours after you were brought here, which is surprising since most pilots who tried piloting the VF-28 are unconscious for between a few days and a week.. You can call me Kanaria, by the way."_

"_Hajimemashite, Kanaria-san. Am I free to go now? Onii-san must be wondering where I am right now."_

"_Luca and I told him that you were hanging out with us the whole time. So you don't need to worry."_

"_How did you end up in the VF-28?" The confused look on Shiori's face made Luca realized she didn't know what the VF-28 was. "The VF-28 was the variable fighter you were in. Manny-san was supposed to pilot the VF-28 on the test run. But he went to the bathroom right before we could start."_

"_I'm sorry I messed up your test run. I meant to return Luca's phone since he forgot I had it. I followed you into that building and I sort of panicked when I heard someone, so I hid in the closest hiding spot I can find. I was afraid of getting caught by someone I didn't know."_

"_Well I think it was a good thing she did." Shiori, Michel, Luca, and Kanaria looked towards the door and saw Ozma walk in. "From what I saw, you were able to pilot the VF-28 using the brain control system. The VF-28 was originally supposed to be controlled by the brain control system, but some adjustments were made since it was hard to find a pilot who can withstand the mental strain. We were supposed to put the new adjustments on a test run today."_

"_I'm really sorry for stopping you from doing that."_

"_It's okay. After experiencing the high mental stress from the brain control system and getting attacked by that Vajra—"_

"_A what?"_

"_What you saw out there was a Vajra." Shiori nodded her head in understanding as Ozma continued talking. "Like I said the mental stress from the system and being attack caused you to pass out. But unlike the other pilots who tried pilot the VF-28 with the brain control system, you were only unconscious for less than a day. I think you have what it takes to be an SMS pilot."_

"_Me? An SMS pilot?"_

"_Squad Leader, is that a good idea. Shiori-san doesn't know anything about being a pilot."_

"_Shiori will be testing like all new recruits. Since she can control the VF-28 with the brain control system she won't exactly need to know a lot about being a pilot."_

"_Unfortunately we can't have her passing out. That's why I had these made." Kanaria pulled out a small rectangular case out of her pocket. "These are pills you must take before piloting the VF-28, Shiori. It will help you withstand the mental stress."_

"_Do you want to be an SMS pilot, Shiori-chan?"_

"_I…I'm not sure. What I experienced was so terrifying. What does SMS do exactly?"_

"_That's classified. Only those working in SMS can know about that. No one else can know, not even friends and family."_

"_So Ranka-chan doesn't know about you being a pilot?"_

"_No, she doesn't. Ranka was always so worried about me. So I promised her that I'd quit being a pilot so she could stop worrying about me. She knows I work in SMS, but not as a pilot."_

"_So if I did agree to be an SMS pilot, that means I can't tell onii-san?" Ozma nodded his head as Shiori thought for a while. "Okay. I'll join."_

"_Are you sure, Shiori-chan? Being an SMS pilot means facing a lot of risks."_

"_I'm sure. I kind of always wanted to fly. Onii-san too."_

"_You've always wanted to fly? But you still get scared when you're stuck in a tree."_

"_Oh shut up, Michel-kun! It was only that one time! It's not like I plan on climbing trees again."_

_End Flashback..._


End file.
